This paper studies a multi-user network model based on sparse code multiple access (SCMA), where both unicast and multicast services are considered. In the direct transmission scheme, the communication between the base station (BS) and the users is completed with one stage, in which the relay is inexistent. In the two-stage cooperative transmission scheme, any number of relays are placed to improve the reliability of wireless communication system. The BS broadcasts the requested message to users and relays in the first stage, and the successful relays forward the message to unsuccessful users in the second stage. To characterize the performance of these two schemes, we derive the exact and approximate expressions of average outage probability. Furthermore, to take full advantage of the cooperative diversity, an optimal power allocation and relay location strategy in the high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) regime is studied. The outage probability reaches the minimum value when the first stage occupies half of the total energy consumed. Simulation and analysis results are presented to demonstrate the performance of these two schemes. The results show that the two-stage cooperative scheme effectively reduce the average outage probability in SCMA network, especially in the high SNR region.
Keywords: SCMA; cooperative transmission; optimal relay design; outage probability; relay; wireless multicast.